History Film / SnowDogs

''Snow Dogs'' is a 2002 Disney comedy film directed by Brian Levant, with the screenplay by Jim Kouf, Tommy Swerdlow, Michael Goldberg, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin. The film is about Ted Brooks, DDS (Creator/CubaGoodingJr), a UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} dentist who discovers that he was adopted when he receives a letter informing him of the reading of his recently deceased birth mother's will, in Tolketna, Alaska. Once there, he discovers that he has inherited his mother's sled dogs, chief among them a temperamental husky named Demon, and is falling for Barb (Creator/JoannaBacalso), the local bartender who was also a close friend of his biological mother. Ted must learn the trade or lose his pack to a crusty mountain man James "Thunder Jack" Johnson (Creator/JamesCoburn).

The film also stars Creator/NichelleNichols as Ted's adopted mother Amelia Brooks, Sisqó as his adopted cousin Rupert Brooks and Creator/{{Graham Greene|Actor}} as Peter Yellowbear.

The story was inspired by the novel ''Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod'', by Gary Paulsen.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Barb (now Ted's wife) is expecting a baby, while Demon and Nana the Border Collie already have a litter of their own]].

* BewareOfViciousDog: Demon. [[spoiler:Until his sore tooth is removed]].
* BookEnds: The film opens and closes with a Dr. Brooks working in his dentist office (at the beginning, it's Ted's adoptive father; at the end, it's Ted himself).

* CatapultNightmare: Ted after waking up of having a nightmare of him born in an Igloo.

** The picture of Lucy with one of her dogs was ''actually'' hiding [[spoiler: a picture of her with Thunder Jack at Ted's birth.]]
** The thermal neck brace Rupert gives to Ted before his trip to Alaska was used to keep Thunder Jack warm and save his life.
* ConnectedAllAlong: Who would have thought that [[spoiler:Thunder Jack]] turned out to be Ted's father after all?

* DrenchCelebration: Subverted when a pair of teenagers try to dump Gatorade on Olivier after he wins the race, and he gets knocked out by a block of blue ice.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Demon is shown rummaging through Ted's stuff and comes across his toothpaste. Demon steps on the tube and squirts some of the contents on the floor, then licks them off. [[spoiler:Later, it turns out he's vicious because he has a sore tooth, which Ted soon removes]].

* HairTriggerTemper: Demon has a short temper and is willing to bark at Ted's dogs to do things like throw him off the sled. At least until [[spoiler:Ted removes his bad tooth]].

* IdiotBall: Thunder Jack is portrayed as a hardened, experienced sledder, and tells off Ted for being a greenhorn. [[spoiler:Jack, in an attempt to get ahead, stupidly rides into a storm. Suddenly, it's Ted who has to save his ass from trouble. Justified in-film due to Jack's desperation to go out on a high note causing him to do something he wouldn't otherwise do]].

* MeaningfulEcho: "Doctor, Is this gonna hurt?" [[YouWontFeelAThing "Oh just a little. More than a tickle, but less than paying your taxes]]."

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer heavily implies that it is a straight-up comedy starring talking dogs. In truth, they only speak in one scene and the entire scene is merely a dream. (Basically, it's like an Alaskan version of ''Film/KangarooJack'', though unlike that movie ''Snow Dogs'' was family-oriented from the get-go.)
* NoodleIncident: When Ted is handed his summons, Amelia and Rupert naturally assume he's being sued. Leading to this:

* ThisIsReality: Thunder Jack tells Ted that they only say "Mush" in the movies -- because, of course, he's totally ''not'' in a movie, right?

* VomitDiscretionShot: At the beginning of the film, young Ted vomits when he sees a patient's mouth, and it immediately cuts to an older Ted having fun in his swimming pool, 25 years later.

The film also stars Creator/NichelleNichols as Ted's adopted mother Amelia Brooks, Sisqó as his adopted cousin Rupert Brooks and Creator/GrahamGreeneActor as Peter Yellowbear.

* TheRemake: An unusual example: the 2008 film ''Film/SnowBuddies'' (also a Disney film, and itself a spinoff of ''Film/AirBud'') borrows heavily from this film. It is also about a sled dog race and has an arrogant French villain who abuses his dogs. Furthermore the Buddies team up with a husky puppy named Shasta who looks like a young Demon. Could also be considered a parody, or a “for younger viewers” version of this film.

* IdiotBall: Thunder Jack is portrayed as a hardened, experienced sledder, and tells off Ted for being a greenhorn. [[spoiler:Jack, in an attempt to get ahead, stupidly rides into a storm. Suddenly, it's Ted who has to save his ass from trouble]].

-->'''Ted:''' I thought you said this was soup!
-->'''Thunder Jack:''' Well, there's soup in it.